User:TAnthony/Draft B
| TAnthony/Draft B | |
|---|---|
Reverend Mother | |
| Occupation | Leader of the Sisterhood |
| Affiliation | Bene Gesserit |
| Relatives |
|
Valya Harkonnen is a fictional character in the upcoming 2024
The character first appears in the
Character
Development and casting
In June 2019, Legendary Television announced a full series order of Dune: The Sisterhood,[2][3] a series in development which would focus on the Bene Gesserit order and serve as a prequel to Denis Villeneuve's 2021 film adaptation Dune.[4] The casting of Emily Watson as Valya Harkonnen was announced in October 2022.[5] Shirley Henderson was originally cast as Tula alongside Watson in October 2022,[5] but left the series during an extended production hiatus in February 2023.[6][7] The role of Tula was recast with Olivia Williams in June 2023.[6] In November 2023, the series was retitled Dune: Prophecy.[8][9]
Description
- The official description: “10,000 years before the ascension of Paul Atreides, Dune: Prophecy follows two Harkonnen sisters as they combat forces that threaten the future of humankind, and establish the fabled sect that will become known as the Bene Gesserit.”[10]
Set in Frank Herbert's Dune universe, Dune: Prophecy takes place ten thousand years before the events of the 1965 novel Dune.
A powerful social, religious, and political force, the Bene Gesserit is described as an exclusive sisterhood whose members train their bodies and minds through years of physical and
In Frank Herbert's 1965 novel Dune, the Bene Gesserit are a secretive matriarchal order who have achieved superhuman abilities through physical and mental conditioning and the use of the drug melange. Under the guise of humbly "serving" the Empire, the Sisterhood is in fact a major power in the universe, using its many areas of influence to subtly guide humanity along the path of its own plan for humanity's future.
Before the Bene Gesserit, there was the Sisterhood of Rossak.
Valya Harkonnen sparks the feud between Harkonnen and Atreides, seeking vengeance for her family's disgrace after the Butlerian Jihad. Valya plays a crucial role in founding the powerful Bene Gesserit order, starting as the Sisterhood of Rossak and evolving into its influential form. The origins of the Bene Gesserit will be explored in Dune: Prophecy , showcasing Valya's journey from a vengeful noble to a formidable leader.
The first trailer for Dune: Prophecy is here, taking viewers to a whole new era of the universe created by Frank Herbert. The HBO series is set 10,000 years before the events of the original novel, showing the origins of the order that eventually became known as the Bene Gesserit. What took most people by surprise is that most of the trailer is actually narrated by a character named Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson). There is also almost no mention of House Atreides in the video, apart from her naming Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) when contextualizing when Prophecy takes place. So who is Valya, and what role does she play in the origins of the Bene Gesserit?
‘Dune: Prophecy’ Adapts One of the Many Prequels to Frank Herbert’s Novels
The Dune universe is vast, spanning a total of 26 novels. Frank Herbert wrote the original hexalogy of Dune novels, documenting the saga of House Atreides from Paul Atreides' arrival on Arrakis to becoming Emperor. The rest was written by Herbert's son, Brian Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson, setting up the universe as it was before the original Dune novel, and going further after the last of Frank Herbert's books, Chapterhouse: Dune. Dune: Prophecy will adapt Sisterhood of Dune, the first novel in a prequel trilogy known as Great Schools of Dune.
Sisterhood of Dune takes place around 10,000 years before the original Dune novel, but, more importantly, it's set 80 years after the end of the Butlerian Jihad. This is the conflict that ultimately resulted in the victory of humans over artificial intelligence (referred to as "thinking machines" in the novels), and that banished all kinds of computers from the universe. The Butlerian Jihad also sets up the board for the Great Families to take their place in the Imperium, with House Butler becoming House Corrino and taking the throne, House Atreides being set up as military heroes, and House Harkonnen falling from grace after one of their members is labeled a traitor and a coward at one of the Jihad's key battles.
The disgrace of House Harkonnen began when one of its earliest members, Abulurd Harkonnen, refused to follow a command that would involve sacrificing nearly two million humans in the final battle against the thinking machines from his superior, Vorian Atreides. Instead, he disabled the weapons in all the human fleet, which ended up causing even more casualties. Vorian then brands Abulurd a traitor, and he and his House are banished to the ice planet Lankiveil. This is the cause of the grudge between Houses Atreides and Harkonnen, which would last for millennia afterward.
Valya Harkonnen Perpetuates Her Family’s Grudge Against House Atreides
Valya Harkonnen is one of the most fascinating characters in the Dune continuity. House Harkonnen felt heavily the consequences of Abulurd's actions in the Butlerian Jihad, even if his intentions and moral standpoint were indeed justified. But, instead of contesting why they became disgraced after the war, the Harkonnens accepted the punishment and kept to themselves. Lankiveil is a harsh planet to live on, and they lead a poor life, completely different from the opulence that becomes associated with them by the time Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård) leads the family.
The first Harkonnen to stand up to the way her family is treated is Valya. From her early years, she understands that the person responsible for her family's misfortune is Vorian Atreides, and that he had no more right to act as he did than Abulurd. So she vows to end the Atreides bloodline, convincing her siblings Griffin and Tula to help her. She is the person who effectively ignites the feud between Harkonnen and Atreides, and mobilizes the people around her to help her. For example, Griffin follows Vorian Atreides to Arrakis when the latter is exiled by the Emperor Salvador Corrino, who fears Vorian's status as a war hero, and, although Vorian and Griffin end up understanding each other, Griffin dies on Arrakis. Tula, on the other hand, successfully murders Orry Atreides on their wedding night.
While her parents and uncles didn't share Valya's hatred for House Atreides, they never did anything to stop her, either. She spends a year honing her own combat skills until she achieves the rank of Swordmaster, just so she can eventually challenge Vorian to a duel and kill him. Until that can happen, though, Valya decides to dedicate herself to another blossoming order in the Imperium, the Sisterhood of Rossak. And, thanks to her, the Sisterhood will eventually grow into the powerful institution known as the Bene Gesserit.
Valya Harkonnen Plays a Key Role in Turning the Bene Gesserit Into a Powerful Order
The main subject of Dune: Prophecy is the origins of the Bene Gesserit, an all-female order of priestesses that, by the time of the original Dune novel, is the most influential in the universe. They have members in all the Great Houses of the Landsraad, and carry out a secret eugenics program that crosses the genes of all noble houses to create a superior being, a powerful male Bene Gesserit, whom they call the Kwisatz Haderach. All this starts with Valya Harkonnen, as she is the person who creates the order as it is.
In the beginning, though, they weren't known as the Bene Gesserit, and were confined to a single planet named Rossak. The local flora is extremely rich, and produces the Rossak drug, a hallucinogenic substance that the Sisterhood of Rossak used as a precursor of the spice mélange to achieve their required levels of prescience. Valya starts her career as a student of Mother Superior Raquella Berto-Anirul, who, unknown to her, is actually a granddaughter of Vorian Atreides. She and Sister Dorotea are Raquella's best students, and are quickly initiated into the use of the Rossak drug, but Valya only pretends to use it, so she can first observe what its effects really are. Dorotea takes it, achieves prescience, and becomes the second-ever Reverend Mother. However, the Sisterhood still used computers for archival purposes, and this practice had been forbidden since the end of the Butlerian Jihad. Valya and Raquella destroy the machines, but Emperor Salvador Corrino still disbands the Sisterhood, some of them relocating to the planet Wallach IX.
This causes a schism in the Sisterhood. Some of them remained on Rossak under Emperor Salvador's watchful eye, and became known as the Orthodox Sisterhood, led by Reverend Mother Dorotea. Mother Superior Raquella attempts to placate both factions, but is only able to do it on her deathbed, when she calls both Valya and Dorotea to make them both co-Mothers. They accept, but Valya soon turns the tables. After she took the Rossak drug herself, Valya developed the Voice, the Bene Gesserit mind-control practice that is widely used in the Dune movies and novels. She uses the Voice on Dorotea, commanding her to commit suicide, thus becoming the sole Mother Superior of the Sisterhood.
As the Mother Superior, Valya Harkonnen is the person who effectively gives the Sisterhood a broader mission. She starts by renaming the order, now called the Bene Gesserit. She also sets up a Mother School, where new sisters are trained in what will become known as the ways of the sisterhood from a very young age. That's also when the idea of the eugenics program is first put into action, as a way of always keeping the Bene Gesserit behind the powers that rule the universe. Little did Valya know the Kwisatz Haderach would eventually be created by crossing Harkonnen and Atreides genes, a notion she would probably hate.
Literary origins
Great Schools of Dune
Valya Harkonnen first appears in the
- We’re going back to the exciting and unexplored territory of the first century after the end of the Butlerian Jihad — a trilogy that explores the formation of the major schools and political organizations that guide and shape the Dune universe.
Over the course of three novels, we’ll describe the formation of the Bene Gesserit, the Mentats, the Suk Doctors, the Spacing Guild and the Navigators, as well as the solidifying of the Corrino imperium. It’s a big story set against the great turmoil of continuing anti-technology fervor and the religious unrest of the C.E.T.[14]
- Sisterhood of Dune (2012)
- Eight decades later, a number of schools have arisen to push the human mind to its highest levels. This includes the training of Mentats as human computers, the development of the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood as practitioners of mental and social manipulation, and the bizarre transformation of men and women into mutated Navigators who use their minds to allow instantaneous interplanetary travel. Amid these changes, youthful members of disgraced House Harkonnen seek vengeance against the Atreides hero responsible for Harkonnen's downfall, while the Butlerian movement under the leadership of zealot Manford Torondo seeks to root out every vestige of machine dependency.[15]
On the planet
- Mentats of Dune (2014)
- Mentats: Ancient Mother Superior Raquella has seen her beloved Sisterhood School on Rossak destroyed in a fit of pique by the volatile Emperor Salvador Corrino. She attempts to rebuild it on Wallach IX, with her most talented and ambitious student, Valya Harkonnen . . . who also has designs on becoming the Sisterhood's next leader after the old woman dies. But Valya Harkonnen has another goal—to hunt down and exact revenge on Vorian Atreides, the legendary and near-immortal hero of the Jihad, whom she blames for her family's downfall.[16]
With anti-technology Butlerian forces of Manford Torondo growing in strength and influence, Prince Roderick Corrino sees a threat to the Imperial power of his brother, Emperor Salvador. Industrialist Josef Venport squares off against Torondo, whose interference thwarts Venport's business interests. Meanwhile,
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- Navigators of Dune (2016)
References
- ^ Otterson, Joe (December 1, 2022). "Dune Prequel Series at HBO Max Adds Mark Strong, Jade Anouka, Chris Mason". Variety. Archived from the original on July 5, 2023. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (June 10, 2019). "Dune: The Sisterhood Series Ordered by WarnerMedia Streaming Service with Denis Villeneuve Directing". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 28, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
- ^ Spangler, Todd (July 9, 2019). "Friends to Leave Netflix for WarnerMedia's HBO Max Streaming Service in 2020". Variety. Archived from the original on July 9, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
- ^ Eddy, Cheryl (June 10, 2019). "A Dune: The Sisterhood Series Is Coming from Denis Villeneuve and WarnerMedia's Streaming Service". io9. Archived from the original on July 1, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
- ^ a b Otterson, Joe (October 4, 2022). "Dune Prequel Series at HBO Max Casts Emily Watson, Shirley Henderson". Variety. Archived from the original on October 17, 2022. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
- ^ a b Cordero, Rosy (June 30, 2023). "Dune: The Sisterhood: Olivia Williams & Jodhi May Join Max Series in Recastings as Anna Foerster Boards as New Director". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 14, 2023. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
- ^ Cordero, Rosy; Andreeva, Nellie (February 28, 2023). "Dune: The Sisterhood: Director Johan Renck & Star Shirley Henderson Exit HBO Max Series Amid Creative Overhaul & Production Hiatus". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 7, 2023. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
- ^ Iannucci, Rebecca (November 2, 2023). "HBO Lays Out 2024 Release Plan for House of the Dragon, Curb and Others". TVLine. Archived from the original on November 2, 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
- ^ Stedman, Alex; Yin-Poole, Wesley (November 3, 2023). "Dune: The Sisterhood Renamed Dune: Prophecy". IGN. Archived from the original on November 3, 2023. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
- ^ Hibberd, James (May 15, 2024). "Dune: Prophecy Teaser Trailer Released by Max". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 17, 2024. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
- ^ Otterson, Joe (June 10, 2019). "Dune Series Ordered at WarnerMedia Streaming Service, Denis Villeneuve to Direct". Variety. Archived from the original on June 11, 2019. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
- ^ Campbell, Maude (February 15, 2019). "Everything We Know So Far About Denis Villeneuve's Dune". Popular Mechanics. Archived from the original on February 15, 2019. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
- ^ Bardini, Julio (May 19, 2024). "Who Is Valya Harkonnen in Dune: Prophecy?". Collider. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
- ^ Anderson, Kevin J. (July 15, 2010). "Brainstorming The Sisterhood of Dune". DuneNovels.com. Archived from the original on May 18, 2011. Retrieved November 27, 2013.
- ^ Cassada, Jackie (December 1, 2011). "Reviews: Sisterhood of Dune". Library Journal. Archived from the original on May 21, 2024. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- ^ "Mentats of Dune Final Cover and Jacket Text". KJAblog.com. November 15, 2013. Archived from the original on November 27, 2013. Retrieved November 27, 2013.
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